Facing Battery Life Issues on iPhone with iOS 11? These Tips Will Help

It’s been over a week since we started using the latest iOS 11 and now that excitement over the amazing new features has subsided, we are beginning to realize its downside. Probably, the most common issue that’s been reported is the reduced battery life on the iPhones.

There has been complains pouring in from around the world about the poor iPhone battery life with iOS 11. In fact, according to the data shared by the security research firm Wandera, iOS 11 has an average of 96 minutes to drain iPhones and iPads completely while iOS 10 took 240 minutes. It’s over 50% drop in battery life!

Although Apple has already released iOS 11.0.1 which promises to fix most of the iOS 11 bugs, including the battery life, not everyone is seeing enough improvements in their iPhone’s battery performance. So while we wait for Apple to completely figure out the cause of the sudden battery drains, let us look at some of the things we can do at our end to get a better backup.

Understand Your iPhone’s Battery Usage

To check which apps are using your iPhone’s battery, all you have to do is head to Settings and click on Battery and see the details of your battery usage. The last 24 hours will be the default that will show you which apps are draining the most amount of battery. If you click on the clock icon available on the right side, you will be able to get a detailed breakdown of how much time was spent on the screen and in the background of each app.

Besides, if you are to follow the suggestions given just above the battery usage, you can have quick, actionable ways to reduce the battery drain. This way you can be efficient with the usage and also have an idea on how to adjust your apps.

Low Power Mode

The Low Power Mode has been available on iOS since last year. If you have ignored its usage before, you can sure make good use of it now. The feature works to reduce battery consumption by stopping background app refresh, suspending mail fetch, stopping auto downloads and more. It’s not recommended to be used daily but comes in handy when your iPhone is running out of battery and you have no way to charge it then.

To turn on the Low Power Mode, you will need to click on Setting then Battery and click the Low Power Mode option there. You can also add a quick link to it in Control Center in iOS 11.

Auto-Lock and Screen Brightness

You’ll be surprised to learn how much battery is drained when leaving your screen on maximum brightness and by disabling the Auto Lock. You can check your battery usage as explained in the first point and confirm if these functions are eating up the juice. It might be worthwhile tolerating the 30 seconds auto lock to preserve your iPhone’s battery’s life.

Go to: Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock

Also, you can adjust the brightness according to your preference but when you need to be economical with your battery, reducing it would be the best idea.

Background App Refresh

If you choose the Low Power Mode, the background apps would be automatically turned off across the board. However, you can customize which apps you want to close under the feature for a more convenient experience for improving the battery life.

Go to: Settings > General > Background App Refresh

You can also choose background app refresh only on WiFi or WiFi and cellular or turn off the feature altogether.

Location Services

Location service is another app that drains your battery life. So, a wiser approach to using this app would be beneficial. There are few apps that would ask you to ‘Always’ use location service. Make sure to switch to While Using the App or Never instead.

Optimizing the usage of push and fetch settings is also recommended. You could leave your primary account(s) to Push to receive new email and turn secondary/non-critical accounts to Fetch every 30 minutes or an hour.

Go to: Settings > Accounts & Passwords > Fetch New Data

If you manage to fine tune these basic settings, you will see that it’s making a difference to the battery life of your iPhone with iOS 11. Along with these steps, it is ideal to carry a power bank whenever convenient. Keeping a charger in your car, backpack or purse is also a good idea.